Portrait of a Living Archive

When people think about libraries they tend to think of them as the ancestral home of written rather than visual culture. Often they are surprised to discover that The John Rylands Library houses a significant collection of art including, drawings, paintings, sculpture and photographs. Many of these works are portraits, depicting a vast array of individuals from various cultures and a range of historical periods.

Similarly, when people think of a specialist library like the Rylands they are often unaware that our collections are constantly growing with new acquisitions and that these teem with the life of the living alongside the venerable dead. Many contemporary poets, novelists, artists, translators, book-binders and printers appear in our collections and one way to connect with them is through the medium of the photographic portraiture.

During 2013, the library's photographers, Jamie Robinson and Gwen Riley Jones, have made a series of portraits that bring us face to face with some of the people who appear in our collections and show us their viewpoint from inside the archive. In turn, these photographs will become part of the Library's collection of images, adding depth to our knowledge of the people represented in the archive whilst enriching our collection of photography.

Text by Stella Halkyard, Visual Collections and Academic Engagement Manager, The John Rylands Library